Gun for Chester: Gunsmoke (July 1, 1956)

“Gun for Chester” is an episode of Gunsmoke, the old-time radio show, first broadcast July 1, 1956. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Chester arrives at the marshal's office convinced that a dangerous man named Ace Ledbetter from Live Oak County, Texas, has come to Dodge to kill him. Marshal Dillon questions Ledbetter at the Long Branch, but the man denies knowing Chester. When Chester is shot in the arm during a street commotion, he insists Ledbetter was responsible, though Dillon suspects the bullet came from the cowboys who caused the disturbance.

Dodge City, Kansas; references to Live Oak County, South Texas

Characters: Matt Dillon, Chester Broadfoot, Ace Ledbetter

Listen for: Chester's growing panic over Ledbetter's presence; the mystery of who actually shot him; Dillon's skepticism about Chester's claims.

Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.